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DePaul Biology alumnus Andrew Sherman is making news in Rochester, NY and changing lives in West Africa. Now a first year resident at University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital, Sherman’s two year experience in Senegal with the Peace Corps inspired him to take action.

Sherman’s Peace Corps experience taught him that something as simple and inexpensive as a mosquito net can be out of the financial reach of some of the world’s poorest people, and that writing a check isn’t necessarily the best way to get those people what they need.

When he returned, Sherman and a med school colleague, Jesse Matthews, now at the University of New Mexico, started to research ways to get mosquito nets to the people who need them. They began searching for manufacturers and then focused on individuals and organizations that are already in the business of fighting malaria.Working with the existing organizations, they were able to cut costs (for $5, they can purchase and deliver a mosquito net, and train villagers on caring for the nets and preventing malaria) and secure the expertise to help them navigate the political and bureaucratic landscape.

“As soon as I realized I could do this,” Sherman says, “I knew it would be a crime or a sin not to do it.”